First Class Round 4 Selection Announcements

Colts have pulled a major surprise and brought in former South African Under 19 Captain Imraan Khan into the 1st XI. Khan has been pick infront of fellow South African Andrew Tweedie. Khan comes into the side as The Colts look for some extra lower order batting and try and give spinner Murali Madugalle longer spells, as the lone spinner. The other change to the team that played Queensland is the swap in the batting order of captain Wickramasinghe and Colts junior Thiru Alwis. Alwis move down to seven will hopefully allow him to return to the form of last season in the local Sri Lanka competition that saw him average 56 in eighteen matches.

The man, the mountain, the Mathews. The greatest all rounder since Keith Miller. (Y)

Karachi have made two alterations for the upcoming set of matches in Round 4. Due to the low scores registered so far in games, Karachi have replaced K Mills and M Richardson (Who are both averaging 19 this season) with P Saradesi and M Jenkins. Both have played in OD games this season averaging 15.50 and 17.67 respectively and it is hoped that the opportunity to switch to FC will encourage them to play to their abilities. P Norman keeps his place in the bowling line-up ahead of I Cook (27.60) after impressing against Yorkshire in the last match and with a season average of 21.67 in his one chance this season.

Originally Posted by cpr

3. Although Cow Tipping is a hilarious student game in backwater towns such as Bangor, there really is no need for Mitchell to cover one side of the cow in superglue

Victoria have made no change to the winning 1st XI side, with off-spinner Guinness holding spot for the tour of Zimbabwe. Our issue is with our batting, and the issue is made worse by the 2nd XI not having anyone making runs either. A prime example is Kale who was sent down to find some form, managed scores of only 10 & 13, although both issue when accomplished while hang-over it's still no excuse.

Our 2nd XI have made a couple of changes, Matty Pascoe comes bat in to provide more bowling support, while Durrant has been dropped. When asked if Coach Pearson was playing favourites with the "real" Victorians, his responce was "well of course I am!!"

Western Province In Shock as Captain Dropped

Despite a convincing win last match, Western Province have pulled a major selection shock, dropping their captain Shane Watson. Manager Jack McNamara expressed his concern at the way that the side was being managed, and at the balance of the side.

"Shane's been a bit disappointing with the bat, averaging only 18 thus far this year, and with Olly Clarke not bowling an over yet this year, we felt that Shane was the most expendable player in the side. I think it's a testament to our depth at the moment that we can even try to pull off a stunt like this, although I must admit I'm nervous changing the dynamics of the side against a side like Tamil Nadu."

WP have elevated Neil McKenzie, who has been consistent without being outstanding thus far this year. "It's players like McKenzie who create a strong club, they provide depth and when called upon can contribute to either the 1sts or 2nds", the manager stated.

Injuries have also forced Alex Puttick out of the side, and Nadeem Iqbal has been chosen to replace him.

In the 2nd XI, two forced changes have meant that Peter Worthington and Ryan Wilson get their first games respectively, replacing the injured Ian Chilvers and the elevated Iqbal respectively.

Last edited by vic_orthdox; 24-07-2006 at 06:04 PM.
Reason: Add A Title

With just about all the bowlers having an emphatic season for TN, the one man yet to deliver will be watching from the grandstand in this week's match. Asad has thus far managed jsut 8 wickets @ 29 when the rest of the bowlers are averaging under 20. Manager Andrew Cloete declared that he was "Disappointed with Asad's season to date. But I know he can turn it around and I think a couple of weeks out will do him some good. I have full confidence in Zac, he's proved hismelf capable of this level and Viv Philander adds depth to the batting."

With a poor start in One Day and some below par Four Day performances, Cloete has been recieving criticism all week. Despite boasting perhaps the most talented team in the competition they are yet to really perform and need a good win this week against a strong Western Province team reenergised by their new manager Jack McNamara. When asked about the new WP manager Cloete stated that he's a "good bloke and he's obviously done something right to turn them around after a poor start to the season. The pressure was on him striaght away replacing Markus and I think he's so far proven himself worthy of the illustrious position. I still want our boys to give Western Province a thrashing and if we pull out our best cricket ntohing McNamara can do will stop us winning. We are yet to fire but when we do, it'll be a sight for sore eyes."

The Tamil Nadu is as follows, in batting order, for the game at Newlands.

Yorkshire manager Greg Thomas today announced there wouldn't be any changes to the team that beat Karachi by 10 wickets last round.
"I don't feel the need to make any changes" he said. "At the moment there's no need to drop anyone. A couple of the batsman who haven't made any big scores so far will be hoping to make some in this match. The bowling is balanced at the moment so I don't feel there needs to be a change there either."
He also commented on his 2nd XI team.
"They got their first win in the one day game which means Nick (Hancock) won't be so anxious now" he laughed. "I applaud him for giving all the rookies a go. So far they've upstaged some of the more experienced batsman in the side and have showed that they're hungry for a full contract next season."

Mashonaland flip on Gavaskar

Rohan Gavaskar, demoted last round to the seconds after a poor run of form, has found himself back in the firsts, despite a sub-par showing in the seconds. Steve Tikolo is the batsmen making way for Gavaskar, and should consider himself unlucky. Tikolo's stunning form for the 2nds, in which his lowest score has been 40, granted him his first call up for the firsts last round, but after a bad performance with the bat, he has been dropped without notice.

Commentators have criticised Mashonaland manager Andy Cameron for making such a drastic move, as Gavaskar has failed to impress in either firsts or seconds. Cameron defended his decision at a recent press conference, however, stating that it is form that matters.

"We're planning on taking our games one round at a time. We pick the best XI players we can for each game, and as it stands now, Gavaskar is batting that little bit more confidently than Tikolo, and that's what's earned him a call up."

Originally Posted by flibbertyjibber

Only a bunch of convicts having been beaten 3-0 and gone 9 tests without a win and won just 1 in 11 against England could go into the home series saying they will win. England will win in Australia again this winter as they are a better side which they have shown this summer. 3-0 doesn't lie girls.

Lancashire made their first changes to the unbeaten first class side, giving Maurice Aronstam and Frank Reza the chance to revive their form in the second XI whilst Shane Stanton and Vikram Bharadwaj get their chance in the big time. Aronstam has faced dual problems, with the ongoing betting scandal investigations and a drop in form which has seen him average 26 from his 6 knocks this year. Reza has been in even worse form, accumulating 62 runs at just 12.4.

Manager Dave Richards is said to be keeping an eye on the form of opener Andy Anderton who is also short of runs, all rounder Fernando who is lacking both runs and wickets, though his medium pace looked better in the last match, and spinner Diwan who hasn't had the best pitches to work on.

Aronstam will captain the second XI as they look to build on last weeks stunning performance.

Queensland going in with unchanged side, Manager Gaurav Nayak looked harried as he was questioned about the makeup of the team. I think we're going along pretty well in both division and i have faith in this current crop of players. In the second XI, he had special words for I loacastro who had putting in some good performances for the seconds. If he continues like this, he could very well be looking at a central contract next season. After these words, Nayak was seen heading towards Heaven on Earth massage parlour.

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Rahul Dravid: A Real Legend.

Originally Posted by cricket player

damn mods are more agressive then the teacher's in school that i have'

Young Indian All Rounder Ismail Tamhane will play his first Four Day game of the season this week after manager Simon Fitzsimmons decided to add another spinner to his eleven for the crunch game against Auckland. Tamhane has been impressive with the bat in the 2nd XI competition and it has been revealed this got him the spot in front of A Hasan. In other changes M Phadke has again been dropped to the 2nds following another poor showing.

South Australia Manager Håkon Mørk decided to give Eddie Graham continued confidence as opening bowler, despite the team playing at home against Vry Staat. Mørk explained his decision thus:

"We're leading the league, so, well, there really has been some excellent performances which has caused us to lead the league, and the eleven who have given us this fine position in the league deserve continued confidence so that they can continue to produce fine performances which will keep us on top of the league. Did I mention we were on top of the league?"

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when you're winning, you have friendsscores and dozens, real friendswhen you're winning, never lonelywhen you keep winning

Eatons returns, Ferreira makes debut

Despite their crushing victory of Mashonaland last week, Tasmania still found room for a couple of changes to the side. Opener Giancarlo Eaton returns from injury, while Neil Ferreira replaces Russell Warren as wicket keeper. Both wicket keepers have performed poorly this season but manager Alex Crampton felt it was time for a change.
"Russ hasn't been performing and he knows that. Hopefully, Neilo can come in and show what he can do, we'll give Russ some practice in the seconds. Changing keeper is sometimes a big step, but Neil's a popular character in the dressing room and there shouldn't be any debut nerves. I reckon Russ'll bounce back, he's a good cricketer, I wouldn't be too surprised to seem him back in the side before long."
Barry Beresford made way for Eaton's return, and accepted he deserved to lose his place:
"I've been pretty hopeless recently, there's no two ways about it. I've had a lot of things on my mind but I know I've got it in myself to knuckle down in the Seconds and get back in the side, where I belong."

South Australia 2nds Ring The Changes

Having played three 4 day games and having 3 draws has left SA 2nd XI manager, KJ Goughy, deciding to experiment and bring in some new faces.

Axelby and Wagg will play their first 4-day games this season and supposed 2nd XI superstar, van Jaarsveld, has been dropped. Experienced and talented keeper, Bruyns, has also been dropped and there is no way back this week for out of favour Dippenaar.

Goughy said "I want to win every game we play but this is obviously not our best team on paper. However, the guys that have been brought in have deserved their opportunities and the place to experiment is in the 2nd XI"

He added "I have my fingers crossed for this week but no real high expectations. Its more important to try things than just settle for the same old faces turning out each week"

If I only just posted the above post, please wait 5 mins before replying as there is bound to be edits